Fire Department Open House

Fire Prevention Week marks the anniversary of the Chicago Fire. “Sparky the Fire Dog” and the Wilmette Fire Department are inviting all youngsters to bring their parents to the Fire Department Open House on Saturday, October 13, 2018 from 9 am until Noon. Come to Fire Station 26, located at 1304 Lake Avenue. Fire Trucks, firefighting and paramedic equipment, special rescue equipment and more will be on display. Kids, don’t forget to bring your favorite stuffed animal. Specially trained paramedics will be available to perform a “checkup” on your teddy bear so you can experience what it would be like to be a patient.

Free parking is available in the Metra lot adjacent to the Fire Station.

There will be other activities for kids and parents alike, including the Junior Firefighter Obstacle Course and our Public Safety Trailer. Fire Prevention Week is October 7th – 13th. The theme this year is “Look. Listen. Learn. Be aware. Fire can happen anywhere™,” which works to educate the public about basic but essential ways to quickly and safely escape a home fire.

NFPA statistics show that the number of U.S. home fires has been steadily declining over the past few decades. However, the death rate per 1000 home fires that are reported to fire departments was 10 percent higher in 2016 than in 1980.

These numbers show that while we’ve made significant progress in teaching people how to prevent fires from happening, there’s still much more work to do in terms of educating the public about how to protect themselves in the event of one.